Commander Joel Coito is a military fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to his fellowship at CSIS, CDR Coito was assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Office of Congressional Affairs, where he served on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. CDR Coito’s previous assignments include chief of prevention law, USCG Office of Maritime and International Law, and USCG liaison to the Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, U.S. Department of State. He also served as a trial counsel and operations law attorney at the Coast Guard Pacific Area and Southwest District Headquarters. Prior operational assignments include service as a deck watch officer, diving officer, and Maritime Law Enforcement Team leader. In 2009, CDR Coito deployed to Umm Qasr, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. CDR Coito is a graduate of the USCG Academy. He holds a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where he was a publishing editor of the California Law Review, and an LLM from Yale Law School. Commander Coito is a 2024 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI program.
Commentary by Joel Coito — December 12, 2025
Podcast Episode by Joel Coito — October 23, 2025
Commentary by Joel Coito — October 23, 2025
